The recent German Court case which initially ruled against circumcision has created a good deal of debate.

Whilst humanistic jews do not advocate the banning of the practice (if carried out under full medical supervision) they are in favour of baby naming ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a boy or girl, irrespective of whether a circumcision is carried out on the baby boy.

Please read the following post in the Huffington Post by Rabbi Laura Baum of Congragation Beth Adam (and www.ourjewishcommunity.org) in which she sets out with clarity her view of the role of Shavuot to Jewry in the 21st Century.

At the inaugural meeting of HJUK in October, it was agreed that we needed to offer contact points across the UK for new and existing subscribers so that it would be easier for small local groups to build up under the umbrella of HJUK itself.

As a result a new regional contacts page has been set up for direct contact to a number of our representatives and our student representative.

We evidently do not cover all the major areas in the UK and we will be happy to add other subscribers as regional contacts in other parts of the UK, where appropriate.

A recent article on the InTheMoment blog here is quite relevant to humanistic jews wherever they are based in the world.

Notwithstanding the article, InTheMoment appears a fun and intelligent forum for independent jewish thoughts and opinions.

To quote, it’s about page directly:

About IntheMoment

IntheMoment is Moment Magazine‘s official blog.

We enjoy moonlit walks on the beach, romantic dinners and a sense of humor.

We also enjoy looking at wordly topics through a journalistic, independent Jewish lens. Whether talking about geopolitical trends, Israeli culture and politics, American Jewish experience, the Jewish religion itself or the antics of Sarah Silverman, our writers approach their subjects with an open and ever-inquiring perspective.

The best way to enjoy IntheMoment:

Read the posts
Comment on anything you want and partake in the discussions

A holiday has delayed this post but the 8 day passover festival which finished last week represents a very important time in the Jewish calender. The rabbis at ourjewishcommunity.org have produced and recorded an innovative online passover seder service with participants across the world that can be caught here: